Partners in business and marriage, chefs Liz Johnson and Will Aghajanian have attracted national attention and a celebrity following for their casual, fine cuisine at Nashville’s Catbird Seat, New York City’s Mimi, and Los Angeles’ Horses.
But that message gained notoriety this week when sensational and intensely personal allegations from public documents began to circulate on the Internet. Ms Johnson has accused Mr Aghajanian of assaulting her, visiting prostitutes and torturing a number of kittens to death. He has accused her of threatening him with death and deliberately burning him with kitchen utensils.
In November, Ms. Johnson sought and received a temporary restraining order against her husband in Los Angeles County Superior Court, ordering him to stay 10 feet away from her at work and 300 feet away from her and their three dogs at all other times . .
In January, Mr Aghajanian responded with a similar request as part of a divorce filing, saying Ms Johnson had verbally and physically abused him for years both at home and in their restaurants. In that filing, he stated that the couple were no longer living together and asked for sole custody of the dogs. A judge denied his request for a restraining order “for lack of sufficient evidence of good cause”.
In the documents, Ms. Johnson said the restaurant’s staff walked out in November in protest of her husband’s presence in the kitchen; he said she instigated the strike as part of a calculated plan to remove him from the company.
Since opening in October 2021, Horses has drawn neck-and-neck with Los Angeles celebrities such as the Polo Lounge and Jon & Vinny’s with its vintage vibe and cool kid clientele including Will Ferrell, Beyoncé and Jay-Z. and Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson. It has appeared on multiple Best New Restaurant lists and received rave reviews; last year The Times called it “that rare animal in Los Angeles: a hot reservation with some serious behind-the-scenes cooking.” (It was later revealed that disgraced restaurateur Ken Friedman was involved with the restaurant.)
After The Los Angeles Times published news of the court dispute on Wednesday, a statement was posted to the restaurant’s Instagram account, saying that Mr. Aghajanian left the restaurant last November and that Ms. Johnson accompanied the restaurant “to continuous Horses as she always intended: a place of joy and celebration.
Mr Aghajanian denied the allegations, saying in a written statement: “I have never and have never abused animals, nor my wife.” Ms Johnson said she stood by her allegations.
The pair met in 2011 as interns at Noma, the influential Copenhagen restaurant that plans to close in 2024. Since 2015, they’ve run — and suddenly departed — several kitchens, including Mimi’s, the Catbird Seat, and Freedman’s, a contemporary Jewish deli in Los Angeles, where Ms. Johnson was named one of the top new chefs in 2018. the magazine Food & Wine. (The owners of Mimi and the Catbird Seat did not immediately respond to calls asking for comment.)
Last fall, Ms. Johnson announced she would be opening a new restaurant in Manhattan, in the West Village space that housed Chumley’s, one of the few Prohibition-era speakeasies to survive the 21st century until it closed in 2020. project is unclear, but Thomas Carter, who was a consultant on the opening, said Thursday he was no longer involved. (Mr. Carter faced numerous allegations of abusive workplace behavior in 2018, as a partner at Estela and other Manhattan restaurants with chef Ignacio Mattos.)
Mr. Friedman did not respond to a request to confirm his involvement with Horses. He co-owned restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles until New York State Attorney General Letitia James discovered he had sexually harassed 11 employees of the Spotted Pig in Greenwich Village. The restaurant will be closed in January 2020.